Beyond the Golden Walls

Ailen’s face remained devoid of any smile as he added those final words. His eyes spoke a silent warning: If you can distort the Dragon’s prophecy to suit your own tastes, how can I ever trust the priestesses?

Having dug her own grave, Mayril couldn’t even offer a defense; she simply flushed a deep, indignant red. Ailen told the humiliated woman to think carefully on his words, then turned away as if their business were concluded.

“Ah!”

He spun back around to face Mayril with a sharp grin.

“Don’t bother heading down there the moment I leave. Unlike this empty level, the area where Chase is held is under ironclad security.”

With a casual wave of his hand, signaling he was truly finished, Ailen vanished into the dark corridor of the dungeon. Mayril bit her lip, glaring at the spot where his back had disappeared.

Whether it was the threat or the sliver of truth Ailen had mixed in, Mayril came to see me as soon as day broke.

‘I thought she might skip me and go straight to the Emperor.’

But she didn’t. Then again, the Emperor was only suppressing his rage at being deceived by “divine will.” If he found out the prophecy was a manipulation and that Mayril had used him for her own spite, his fury would turn on her. She was smart enough to watch her own neck.

She visited my palace and sat in silence after the initial greetings. Even after I dismissed the servants to make it easier for her to speak, she remained a statue. Just as I was beginning to feel frustrated, she spoke.

“What will you do if things do not go according to Your Highness’s wishes?”

Mayril glared at me. Seeing my momentary confusion, she clarified.

“I am asking what you will do if we meet the White Dragon and the words you desire do not come forth. What if the White Dragon peers into the future again and declares that the ‘distortion’ is meaningless—that Chase is still the one destined to destroy the world?”

“Hmm. Then… well, I suppose I’ll have to give up, won’t I?”

I answered lightly, but Mayril watched me with eyes full of doubt. She looked skeptical that I would truly abandon him after all this effort to save him.

‘Of course I won’t.’

If the White Dragon said that, I’d toss Chase straight into the Black Dragon’s lair immediately. The Black Dragon would take his side and protect him.

‘Maybe I should have sent him there from the start?’

I sighed inwardly. It was a nice thought, but practically impossible. As the Crown Prince, it was difficult for me to even leave the Empire, let alone smuggle a prisoner into the isolationist Great Forest.

‘And if I did that… he’d never meet Seamus.’

Seamus had finally come up from the provinces to be my companion. If Chase were hidden away in the Black Dragon’s lair from the beginning, their paths would never cross. Their blossoming bond was one of the few moments of genuine happiness Chase had in the original story; I couldn’t bring myself to erase one of his few handfuls of joy. Even if I went back in time, I wouldn’t have sent him to the lair.

Mayril still looked sullen, clearly unhappy with my answer, but a sense of resignation had finally settled over her features.

“Sigh… very well. I shall invite you to the Great Forest. But as I said, if there is no change in the future even after he looks again…”

She looked me straight in the eye. Her gaze was steady, telling me to be prepared to give up on Chase just as I’d promised. I nodded and gave my word, though I was shaking my head internally. Mayril’s expression softened slightly.

“How many people may enter the Great Forest?”

“Ten.”

“Only ten? By Imperial law, my procession must be accompanied by at least twenty servants and thirty knights.”

Mayril’s gaze sharpened again. Her silent look asked if I was going on a picnic. I just laughed. I didn’t actually intend to bring fifty people; I just wanted to see if ten was truly her absolute limit. She didn’t even pretend to offer extra leeway, making it clear that ten was the final number.

“Then, excluding myself and Chase, that leaves eight spots.”

Mayril’s eyes went round as I mused over who to fill the remaining seats with. She looked so genuinely surprised that I had to ask what was wrong.

“You… intend to bring that child to the Great Forest?”

“I do.”

Thinking she might be objecting because she hated the idea of Chase entering her home, I answered curtly. Mayril watched me with a strange, inscrutable expression before letting out a small, dry laugh.

“Well, if that is what you wish, so be it. But are you sure? To fill one of only nine available spots so… wastefully.”

“I see no reason why it shouldn’t be him.”

“If you say so,” Mayril replied with a faint, mocking smile. It left a bad taste in my mouth, but I hesitated to ask for clarification.

‘I have a guilty conscience of my own, after all…’

The Emperor didn’t fully believe me yet. If things went south while I was away, he might execute Chase in my absence. I needed to keep the boy where I could see him. That was why I was so insistent on him coming along.

‘Plus, if the prophecy doesn’t go my way, I need to be able to send him to the Black Dragon’s lair immediately.’

I didn’t believe in the prophecy, but everyone else did. News travels fast, but travel from the Great Forest to the Empire takes time. The odds of me arriving back in the capital before a negative prophecy did were zero. If a bad omen reached the Emperor first, he’d act. I had to be close enough to intercept.

Despite Mayril’s unsettling reaction at the end, the meeting was over, and she departed. I reported the results to the Emperor and informed him that both Chase and I would be going to the Great Forest.

“Do as you wish.”

The Emperor gave his permission with total indifference. I had prepared a hundred arguments in case he refused to let Chase go, so his easy surrender was almost deflating. It felt suspicious, but it would have been ridiculous to ask why he was being so cool about it. I simply thanked him.

And so, we set off for the Great Forest.

“Please come back safe, Brother.”

Ethan clung to me, sniffing back tears. Since the party size was strictly limited, Ethan hadn’t made the cut. He seemed to realize that throwing a tantrum wouldn’t help, as this was a journey where safety meant no room for extra baggage.

‘Bringing him would just make him a target and decrease the overall security.’

This was an era where the number of knights directly equated to safety. There was a reason the law dictated a minimum number for a Crown Prince. I had to go to handle the prophecy, and Chase had to go as the subject. That left eight spots, one of which was taken by a civil official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With a coachman for the carriage, that left only six spots for knights. If I took Ethan, that would mean one less sword for protection.

“Have a safe trip, Your Highness. You too, Chase.”

Seamus stood beside Ethan to see us off. I smiled inwardly as I watched him squeeze Chase’s hand—a hand that had clearly suffered much lately.

“Your Highness, it is time to depart.”

Viscount Travie from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called out to me. Everything was ready; the priestesses were already boarding their own carriages. I nodded, said my final goodbyes to Ethan and Seamus, and stepped into the carriage.

“Chase, you come here too.”

Chase was looking around awkwardly, unsure of where he belonged, so I reached out a hand to him. His face brightened instantly as he took my hand and climbed in. As Chase and I sat side-by-side with Viscount Travie across from us, the Viscount merely spared Chase a brief glance. There was no hostility—just a quick confirmation of who was sitting there.

While most people held at least a small grudge against Chase due to the prophecy, this man didn’t show a hint of it. He wasn’t exactly warm, but he wasn’t cold either.

“To reach the Great Forest, we must pass through three Warp Gates,” he explained.

I nodded, already aware. The Empire was vast; traveling from the capital at its heart to the Great Forest on horseback would take months. Warp Gates were the pride of magical engineering—folding space to shorten the distance. Unlike Teleportation, which relied on the caster’s will, Warp Gates had fixed coordinates, making them safer and capable of moving large groups at once.

For the sake of Chase and me—two boys who had never stepped foot outside the capital—Viscount Travie began to explain the gates and various landmarks in simple, easy-to-understand terms.